In 2025, fire departments serving Sykesville responded to 272 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $669K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,094 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 186 | — | |
| 2022 | 178 | -4.3% | |
| 2023 | 225 | +26.4% | |
| 2024 | 233 | +3.6% | |
| 2025 | 272 | +16.7% |
For the 40 building fires Sykesville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 232 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 39 | 16.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 33 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 19 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 13 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 57 | 24.6% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Sykesville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 94 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 29 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sykesville departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $669,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sykesville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,655 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 47.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21784 | 1,091 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Sykesville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.